The Future Is Bright
by riverknowshisname
Summary: In effort to show post-Epilogue Katniss and Peeta how much influence they've had in the future and how their efforts during the war have helped provide a better future, The Doctor and River take them on an adventure to the future wherein, they witness the life of their son and daughter in the meadow with their children, showing that they are still - free of the Games.
**A/N(s):** Being that both of these pairings are very near and dear to my heart, it seemed the only option for this challenge. The only difficult thing was in deciding which incarnation of The Doctor to use. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

* * *

"River!" Exclaims the Eleventh incarnation of The Doctor from somewhere else in the TARDIS. "This book!" There's a pause and then a loud _CRASH!_ In the distance as he rushes into view. "These people," he whips around the console and collapses beside her on the seat. "These Mellark's. They're _fascinating_ people. River! We have to go meet them!"

"Is that really necessary, my love?" River asks with a roll of her eyes.

"Most definitely!" He drops the book in her lap and leaps to his feet. Hitting the console he programs in the destination, hits several buttons, pulls a few levers. Seconds later the TARDIS is on it's way. The smile on The Doctor's face is enough to cause River to smile, whether it was more out of pity or amusement, she wasn't sure. "Read it River! Read the book!"

"What is it about, Doctor?" River asks flipping through the pages, skimming bits and pieces of it. "Why is this book so interesting that we have to go to…" she looks around the pages before landing on a name, "Panem?"

"It's about this couple," he enthusiastically squats at her feet while still maintaining eye contact. "Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. Tributes. Forced into an arena where they were required to fight _to the death_! But Katniss wouldn't have it! No! She brought that boy out of those Games by refusing to bow to the corrupt government!" His voice gets more and more earnest as he continues the story, "Alas, that was, a very not good idea, and they were forced into another...this time there would only be one to make it out," he starts bouncing, "and this is where it gets good. She shoots out the arena! They get out, but they are separated. He comes back and nearly kills her!"

"And this is a _good_ story?" River asks with a smirk.

"Hey!" He shouts, "Ours isn't perfect either, wife. Now hush! They get separated and he tried to kill her when they come back together. Then she all but abandons him and only comes to see him once he's asked for her. Tragic really, quite sad. But it's okay, because the other corrupt leader sends him after her on a mission, in hopes that he will kill her! Instead he ends up saving her, and when he's about to lose it again, she gives him the most passionate snog ever! Then they end up winning the war and come back together, and oh, River it's beautiful!"

"Husband," River gets to her feet and he falls backwards, no longer steady - not that it was unusual - but he quickly gets to his feet and follows after her as she pulls the monitor around. "Why are we going to _this_ time in their lives?"

"I want to show them!"

"Show them what, darling?" River lets go of the monitor and with one hand, leans against the console, and with the other, rests on her hip.

"Show them the future," he giggles. "That everything they went through, had a purpose. That there is restitution. That their life is beautiful, that their children are taken care of...that their parts in the war, their efforts, their sacrifices...all of them were for a reason. A good reason. I want to show them their futures, because they deserve to know how much they helped!"

"You really liked that book, didn't you?" She's amused by his interest, and amused enough to indulge him. The Doctor nods emphatically and claps his hands and rubs them together. "Alright. But we're not going to stay a long time. Mummy and Daddy are expecting us for dinner tonight. Can't be late."

"Time machine, River," The Doctor says laughing. Spinning around his wife he flicks a switch. "We'll be early regardless." The already existing smile on his face bursts as the TARDIS makes its landing. River rolls her eyes and hits a button.

"You could at least, at the very least, not leave the brakes on while I'm on board, my darling," shaking her head she takes a couple steps towards the door and The Doctor follows after her, barely able to contain his excitement. "Now try to be calm for once, would you? Don't embarrass me."

"When have I ever done that?"

"Sweetie," coos River, "The list as to when you haven't, would be mightily shorter."

He gasps in offense, "How rude!"

"I still married you," she chortles. "So it couldn't have really been all bad."

"Come along, Professor Song," he rushes around her and yanks the door open. Stepping from the TARDIS he is staring directly into the faces of the book from which he had become so mesmerized. River steps up quickly behind him, closing the doors to the TARDIS.

"Katniss," Peeta jabs at her with his elbow. "Please tell me you're seeing this, too?"

"Uh…" she stares at the blue police box in shock, "If I knew what I was seeing, I might be able to answer that question." She shares a concerned look with her husband before staring back at the box and the crazy man and the woman with more hair than she knew how to comprehend.

"Mellark's!" Shouts The Doctor in excitement. "Pleasure to meet you both!"

"Well," says Peeta, taking a protective stance in front of Katniss. "You know who we are - which we've gotten used to - but we don't know who you are, so if you'd be so kind as to introduce yourselves-" Peeta is cut off.

"Oh of course!" Squeals The Doctor. "I'm The Doctor. This is my wife, River Song. She's an archeologist. Never much cared for archeologists. I point and laugh at them, usually. But this one I married. Her parents are my companions, but they're on a holiday right now so I'm traveling kind of alone."

"Archeologist?" Katniss steps beside Peeta, glancing at River.

"Oh, yes, dear," says River nodding. "Archeologist. Time Lady. Two hearts."

"Time lady?" Peeta wonders.

"Don't think about it too much," she leans forward and smiles, "you'll just get a headache."

"Okay," Katniss says, taking Peeta's hand in her own. "We know _who_ you are. But why are you here...and _how_ are you here?" She glances around them to the mysterious blue box that's landed in their living room.

"We're big fans!" The Doctor states before rapidly waving his hands around in the air. "Great big huge fans! Your story is wonderful, beautiful, tragic, spectacular!" He clasps a hand over his mouth briefly, "I think you're wonderful."

Peeta pulls Katniss over to the side as The Doctor continues to bounce around and River tries to calm him. "What are we supposed to do with them?" He asks her hesitantly. "What are they even doing here? How can we trust them to be who they say they are?"

Katniss glances past him as the unusual pair. "I don't know that we can. But they certainly are worth looking into."

"You mean you _want_ to hear them out?" He asks shocked.

"It could be interesting," she smiles. "And anyway, Johanna is watching the kids, and you and I _desperately_ need a break. At the very least, it might be entertaining. I mean, when was the last time we had someone gush over us?"

"Yesterday," Peeta says blandly.

With a gentle smack to his arm Katniss continues, "Come on Peeta. Let's hear them out."

"I am only doing this for one reason. You know what that reason is, Katniss?" He smiles.

"Because you love me," she smiles at him and stretches to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Come on Peeta. Let's do something different for the first time in months. You know Jo would guard them with her life, right?" Peeta nods so she continues. "So let's go. We're going to be 40 soon, so let's take a detour from this right now and listen to someone else's story." Peeta looks uncertain.

The four enter the TARDIS, after a brief explanation about the acronym, Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. Katniss and Peeta watch in shock as The Doctor flies around the console like a drunk ballet dancer, and River looks at him with both affection and annoyance. Neither say anything until the TARDIS makes its signature brakes-left-on stop.

"Come on Mellark's!" The Doctor hollers at them as he bursts through the doors and the remainder of the group follows after him.

"Where are we, Doctor?" Peeta asks, seeing as how nothing looks much changed from the moment he stepped into the TARDIS, versus the view that he saw now. They were still facing the town, with the meadow to their backs. It's the squeal of happy children that causes them to walk around the TARDIS. There in the field sit a woman holding an infant and a man running around the field chasing a very young child. "Who is that?" Utters Peeta slowly.

"Those are your kids," The Doctor beams at them. "Older. With children of their own."

"Why are we here?" Katniss turns to face River. "What's the purpose of this trip?"

"Well-" River begins, but is cut off.

"It's to show you," he wrings his hands together in enthusiasm and waves his hand towards the meadow. "That all that you went through, was not in vain. That now," he pauses, "the you now, not the future you, 'cause the future you isn't here...but the past you is here, so here as in you now...that what's to come is _so_ much better than what is behind. You went through so much, it's _incredible_ , but your future is bright! Full of promise!"

"And we're supposed to understand this, simply by looking at them in the meadow?"

"No, of course not," The Doctor shakes his head, almost in irritation. "Get a closer look. Don't let them see you, of course, because that would be very not good and we can't have any very not good moments when there is supposed to be a good moment-"

"Just go have a listen," River cuts in.

Katniss and Peeta hesitate but walk hand in hand toward a tree they can hide behind. Close enough to hear what their children say, and far enough that their children can't see them. Katniss leans against it first and Peeta soon thereafter. After all this time, closeness was still something that they valued, treasured, and cherished. Their fears that everything they had - and loved - could be taken away in an instant, was the exact reason that they still had so many nightmares. Sleep always seemed to elude them, and it hadn't abated in the years since removed from the Games.

At first they stand there, with nothing to listen to, but then their daughter speaks to her child.

"You are _so_ lucky," there's a sniffle from her as she continues. "So lucky to have this life that you do...and you know who you can thank for this? For all of this? Your grandparents. Oh, not daddy's parents, not really sure what their role was...but _my_ parents. Katniss Everdeen. Peeta Mellark. One day, you'll learn about them. I'd like to say I know it all now, but I don't. I'd like to say that I completely understand what they went through...but I don't. We won't know their struggles first hand, but we will, my darling Primrose, we will see their legacy endure."

A shrill cry causes her head to shoot up and look in the way of her brother. He's scooping up the toddler and walking back to his older sister. "That's your uncle. He's a bit silly. He's got dad's-grandpa's...sense of humor. He knows how to talk to a crowd, how to sway them, how to reach them. He's every bit like dad. The good parts, all the good parts. He's kind. He cares. He's a surprisingly good baker. He's this generation's Peeta."

"If I didn't know that _was_ a compliment, I might be offended," he plops down on the ground with a wink. "You telling her all about mom and dad?" His sister nods. "Well, from what I hear...Sis, they aren't dead." He laughs heartily to himself, "though I get what you're saying. They sacrificed so much for us, for our generation, for Uncle Finn and Aunt Annie's son's generation. They all sacrificed so much. You think they'll ever fully grasp the enormity of influence they have?"

"Mom and Dad?" She laughs. "No. I don't think they ever really will." She smiles at him before continuing. "Mom did say something funny to me today though. While Prim was sleeping and Jack was in town with Dad."

"What did she say?" He asks, genuinely interested.

Katniss moves uncomfortably at the tree, worried she might have said something foolish in the future. Peeta rubs her arms and reminds her that all of this hasn't actually happened yet. She nods and they listen on, but Peeta wraps his free arm around her waist and pulls her close enough to him that his chin rests on her shoulder.

"Oh," she shrugs. "Something about how the Games forever shaped and altered their lives. You remember reading about them in the history books?" He nods in acknowledgement. "Well she said that it wasn't all accurate, but they'd never really felt the need to correct anyone on it either."

"Really?" He pulls a juice box from a bag, jams the straw in, and hands it to the boy.

"Yeah. And it got me thinking-"

"Uh-oh! We're in trouble now!" He teases and she gently gives him a shove. "Seriously though. What did it make you think about?"

"Mom and Dad were essential to everything, right? I mean, they had their parts, and got pretty messed up from it. Don't you think they deserve to have their story told right? I watch Mom's face turn bright red when the anniversaries come up. I watch the color drain from Dad's cheeks. Maybe their story hasn't really been told yet."

"You wanting to tell it?" He asks, taking the emptied juice box from the boy as he hobbles to his feet and starts to run around again.

"Don't you think they deserve it?"

"They lived their lives in the spotlight for a long time...don't you think this would reopen some wounds?" He turns his face to watch the child run through the dandelions, sending bits of them into the air wherever his little feet trudged.

"Wouldn't you want someone to tell the _real_ story?" She smiles.

"I wish Dad didn't still need to do that every so often…"

"I think now it's more of a choice, a tradition, a reassurance. I don't think he needs it so much anymore to hang on to his reality," with a gentle rock of the baby, a kiss on her forehead, and a tear in her eye, she looks back at her brother. "I think now, when he asks her if something is real or isn't...it's his coping mechanism. Mom still gets terrible nightmares, I know Dad gets them too, but it's different than it used to be. I've noticed a lot less trauma, on both their parts."

"Why did you decide to live with them anyways?" He hesitates to ask.

"I don't know...even though I _know_ they would be fine...the idea of them all alone in that house...I just couldn't do it."

"You don't think they can handle it?" He's genuinely surprised by his sisters reasoning.

"Of course they can handle it, they have each other," she pauses but when she speaks again it is with a visceral intensity, "If anyone can handle whatever life throws at them it's Mom and Dad. If anyone can handle, face, and conquer the challenges that come their way...it would always be them. _That_ is why I want to tell their story, and tell it the right way. That is how I can make my imprint on the world. _That_ is how I can preserve the future. We don't have the Games anymore, little brother, and even though Mom knows that...I think she will always have a fear deep down that they'll come back."

"Things have been particularly difficult for them this week, too, haven't they?"

"Yeah, the anniversaries of the assault on the Capitol…" she takes an aggravated breath. "I wish there was something we could do. I always feel so utterly helpless this time of the year. Aunt Jo is supposed to be here this afternoon, too."

"We probably should actually get heading back," he gets to his feet and helps to pull her up from the ground. "Finnick! Time to go home. Come on. Let's go see grandma and grandpa!" The squeal from the toddler as he tramples through the dandelions causes both of the adults to laugh. They had never taken their lives for granted, not once they had realized just how lucky they were, and they were determined to make sure their kids knew the same thing...and knew how their family had played a part. That their legacy lives on through them, not just in the history books. "Well, Sis, if you write the book, let me have a chapter."

"You've got it. What would you talk about?"

"The bread moment. I want that one moment. You can have the rest of them, but I want that."

"Why that specifically?" She asks, kicking the blanket into a ball.

Reaching down her brother yanks it from the ground, "Because Mom told me once, that it was their first real connection. And if it's important to them, then it's important to me. I think that's really what did Mom in. Dad's said he was a gonner long before then...but I kind of think that as Mom's moment."

"Elaborate for me?" She gestures back toward town with her head.

With a smooth swoop of his arm, he hoists his giggling son into the air. The two then turn and start walking back to town. "I want to do that moment, not just because it was their one moment of connection - or whatever - before the Hunger Games. I want to do it, because it was the first time Mom really noticed Dad. And not a moment, event, inconsequential thing, escaped her notice after that. It's what started it all, and I want in."

"The moment is yours, I'm sure you'll make Mom proud."

She looks down at little Finnick as he is swung back and forth in his father's arms, "I'm pretty sure you already have."

As the siblings walk away, Peeta and Katniss duck farther behind the tree. After their adult children are a safe distance away, Katniss turns to face Peeta. Wrapping her arms around his waist she buries her head in his chest as the tears begin to fall. After everything they'd been through. Everything they'd lost. Staring at her future, at their future, for the first time she wasn't worried about the Games.

"There's no more Games," she chokes out, barely audible.

"I guess The Doctor was right," Peeta asserts. "The future _is_ bright."


End file.
